Digging through train wreck damage

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One train derailed then hit a train going the other way, officials say

Hospitals say they have treated 70 people

Federal investigators ruled out foul play in a commuter train derailment in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that left more than 70 people injured and shut down service along the busy New York-to-New Haven corridor, officials said Saturday.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are now focusing on a broken rail as a possible cause behind Friday's rush-hour collision of two trains.

"It is of substantial interest to us, and we will be sending a portion of that track back to the laboratory in Washington, D.C., for analysis," Earl Weener of the NTSB told reporters Saturday.

Weener said the fracture could have been caused by the accident itself, or it could have been broken before the trains collided.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – A Connecticut state investigator examines the scene of a Metro-North train collision on Saturday, May 18, in Fairfield, Connecticut. Two commuter trains collided during rush hour on Friday, sending dozens to the hospitals and shutting down a busy section of track, which is expected to affect commuters for weeks to come.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Construction equipment is moved in to place. The wreckage will not be removed until investigators finish examining the site, which may be Sunday.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – National Transportation Safety Board investigators examine the scene of the collision.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Investigators walk past two train cars damaged in the collision on Friday, May 17.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Onlookers gather at the scene on Friday, May 17.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – People are seen inside one of the two derailed trains on May 17.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Debris and twisted metal is seen inside one of the derailed trains on May 17.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Both trains were damaged and dozens were injured, though officials say the injuries aren't believed to be life-threatening.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Onlookers gather as police cordon off the area.

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Trains collide in Connecticut – A woman injured in the crash is prepared to be transported to the hospital.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Amtrak also announced early Friday night that it had suspended all travel between New York and Boston indefinitely after the crash.

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Photos:Trains collide in Connecticut

Trains collide in Connecticut – Passengers gather as they wait for a bus to pick them up from the scene of the collision.

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Investigators will also look at the trains' braking performance, wheel and track conditions, and speed and other information from data recorders, he said. In addition to the trains, investigators also are examining the behavior and actions of the crew.

The wreckage won't be removed until investigators finish examining it on site -- possibly Sunday, Weener said -- and then two tracks will have to be repaired before they can be reopened.

While that happens, a long stretch of rail that tens of thousands of passengers take daily will be shut down. That includes Metro-North service for a 30-mile stretch between New Haven and South Norwalk, Connecticut, and Amtrak service between New York and New Haven -- both closed indefinitely.

"I think this is going to be with us for a number of days," Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy told reporters Saturday morning.

'Absolutely staggering damage'

The damage to the tracks and several train cars is "absolutely staggering," said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, who visited the site with other officials Saturday. Wreckage littered an area of about 200 yards, officials said.

"Ribbons of the sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of cloth," Blumnethal said. "Tons of metal tossed around like toy things. The insides of cars are shattered."

The two Metro-North passenger trains, heading in opposite directions, collided Friday evening in southwestern Connecticut, damaging both trains and leaving some people critically injured.

The accident occurred when a train heading from New York City to New Haven derailed around 6:10 p.m. That train struck the other train in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Weener said Saturday.

Three people still were in critical condition Saturday morning, according to Andrew Doba, spokesman for Malloy. The governor had said Friday night that five people were seriously injured.

Of the 70 people taken to hospitals Friday, nine remained in the facilities Saturday morning, hospital representatives told CNN.

'Doctors up front'

A passenger in a middle car of the New York-bound train, Chris Martin, said his car went dark after the crash.

He then heard someone yell over the intercom for "all the doctors up front."

Martin said his crowded train was evacuated. Everybody on his train was physically fine, he said, but many were shaken emotionally. He said he saw injured people outside the train.

Brian Alvarez said he saw the wreckage.

"I saw this one car and it was completely destroyed, and they were pulling people out of the car," Alvarez said. "... They were all bloody."

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said Friday that travel headaches could persist for weeks because the two tracks affected by the derailment -- which are both "shot right now" -- may take weeks to repair. Cranes will have to remove the wreckage from the tracks once the NTSB has finished its on-site probe.

Because of a bridge replacement project, those two tracks are the only way in and out of New York City by train from that part of Connecticut.

Malloy said the state would set up a system taking rail Metro-North patrons from Bridgeport to the closest operable station, in South Norwalk, during the shutdown.